


And I Catch You (Or how William Brandt learnt to stop worrying and trust Benji Dunn)

by Noxnoctisanima



Category: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
Genre: M/M, Yuletide, Yuletide 2013
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-21
Updated: 2013-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-05 08:35:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1091834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noxnoctisanima/pseuds/Noxnoctisanima
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will wasn't quite sure at first about Benji, but he grows on you.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And I Catch You (Or how William Brandt learnt to stop worrying and trust Benji Dunn)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [beedekka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/beedekka/gifts).



**1.**

“Benji what are you doing?” Benji looked up. He had the insides of a laptop, a fingerprint scanner and at least two mobile phones in front of him and a wad of circuitry clenched carefully between his teeth.

 

“Mmmm mmmlding a mansmimmer mmr meh methm mmets mus ma...” He would have completed the whole answer too if Will hadn’t stopped him.

 

“Without the mouthful if you could Benji.”

 

Benji huffed, frustrated, but he put his soldering iron carefully down on its stand and retrieved the circuitry from between his teeth.

 

“I said that I’m building a transmitter for when Ethan gets us the codes.” He balanced the circuitry carefully on the edge of the table and picked up his soldering iron again, focusing back onto his work. “Seeing as he smashed the last one into the face of an Armenian bodyguard, because God forbid anything actually goes according to plan.” He waved his soldering iron forcefully in Will’s direction. “I know I’m good but I can’t build entirely new forms of technology out of scrap. One day he’s going to break something vital and I’m not going to be able to fix it.”

 

Will wasn’t much fond of Ethan’s particular brand of chaos either but there was less than no chance he could change that so he just watched as Benji gingerly hooked his frankenstein device to the power source and then crowed victoriously. 

 

He watched as Benji carefully transferred the disjointed parts of his machine into a plastic tub, taping a few parts carefully to the edges so they wouldn’t shift. Then he handed it to Will who stared back at him, confused.

 

“What am I supposed to do with this?”

 

“I’m incredible and I managed to create a receiver/transmitter which can communicate with both Ethan’s phone and the building’s systems out of scrap. Forgive me if I couldn’t quite manage the same range. Go take it closer.”

 

Sometimes Benji was brilliant and the only thing that kept the missions going, other times Will came within an inch of strangling the man. He hefted open the van’s door before slamming it closed behind him. The question now was what he was going to do with a tupperware container full of spare parts in a strip club.

 

 **2.**  
  
Jane was rich man bait again and while Will intellectually understood that he couldn’t change a mark’s sexuality just to get out of the dirtier jobs he really didn’t want to go into the tunnel he was currently facing.

 

“Are you sure this is the only way in?” There was a very beleaguered sigh in his earbud before Benji replied.

 

“As I’ve said four times now, yes, unless you want to go through seven layers of next gen security and risk tripping something, your way in is the storm drain.” He managed to both sound apologetic and world weary at the same time.

 

“Benji we’re in Bangkok and it’s monsoon season. Are you sure it’s not flooded?”

 

Benji’s sigh this time said that Will was very lucky he was being put up with.

 

“I closed the bloody flood gates to that section two days ago, it’ll be wet and any sewer alligators are your problem but I can promise you no floods.” At which point he stopped indulging Will’s insecurities and ignored him in favour of watching Jane very carefully not stab a smug asshole with a fork.

 

Will really should know better. He mightn’t _like_ most of Benji’s plans and gadgets, but no one could say they weren’t usually effective.

 

The solid metal door squealed as he reluctantly tugged it open. There was a layer of foul smelling muck squishing beneath his boots as he made his way into the gloom. He switched on his headlamp as the last of the light faded in his wake and checked the screen on his arm again, his tracker still blinking solidly as he reached the first tunnel branch. He’d been worried that the concrete and soil would block the tracker and the last thing he wanted was to be stuck in this labyrinth without a map.

 

“Benji I’m in, ten minutes to target.” There was silence on the coms. He waited a moment. “Benji!”

 

“Yes, yes, I got it, ten minutes. I’ll be ready with the override.”

 

Will huffed but looked back down at his wrist, following the blinking dot into the darkness.

 

**3.**

“What the hell are you doing?” Benji hadn’t noticed Will entering the room, distracted as he was. He was hanging from the ceiling in a complicated series of straps connected to a descender.

 

“I’m testing the new descender, I’m not sure about its breaking.” He dropped a little before the descender caught again and he frowned at the remote in his hand. “It catches when it shouldn’t and doesn’t hold well for long periods and it’s got to keep Ethan in place or he’ll either hit the pressure sensors or won’t be able to reach the hard drive.”

 

Will knew this, he’d been studying the mission briefing just as much as Benji had, what he was still wondering though was why Benji was up in it himself.

 

“But why aren’t tech division testing it?”

 

Benji frowned heavily and poked at the remote again.

 

“Their last screw up nearly dropped Ethan off the tallest building in the world, I’m not trusting them with our gear again.”

 

He dropped another foot from his stationary position and Will moved forward instinctively to try and catch him. Benji grinned at him.

 

“It’s not high enough to hurt me.” He used the remote to slide down the last two feet until he was touching the floor. “But while you’re here you can help me take this off.” He tugged at a few of the straps. “Ethan helped me into it and I’m not entirely sure how to get back out.”

 

Will moved forward and helped Benji undo the D-ring and then turned to the harness. It was five point and god knows who designed it because it looked to Will like it would take at least one other person to get someone out of it. He said as much to Benji.

 

He unclipped one of the buckles in the middle of Benji’s back and the harness sagged.

 

“Thanks. Looks like I’m going to have to fix this too.” He smiled ruefully at Will who couldn’t help but return it.

 

 **4.**  
  
“BENJI!” Will pressed his arms into the sides of the vent, wedging himself in against the fan’s gale.

 

“I’m working, I’m working. One of the systems must have glitched and they’ve done a reboot, I just need a minute to get back into the system.” He sounded harried and there was an almost frantic tapping of keys in the background that Will could hear even over the roar of the wind.

 

Will could feel himself beginning to slip, his skin sweating in the warmth of the vent and slipping against its slick metal surface.

 

“I’m not sure if I’ve got a minute Benji!” His arms were beginning to cramp with the force he was holding them against the roof and the wind was buffeting him roughly.

 

“I can only move as fast as the server does Brandt, just keep holding.” His voice was tight and Will flexed his toes, slid his arms down the walls and tried to provide as small a surface as possible for the wind.

 

But it just wasn’t enough. His forearms jerked forward half an inch before he slammed them hard back into the metal but it was too late, his own sweat now smeared along the surface and he could feel his arms beginning to give under the pressure.

 

“Benji!”

 

“I know, I know, I know, I’m almost there.” Will gritted his teeth against the cramping in his toes and his shoulders and tried. But in one huge rush his left arm slipped down and he pitched sideways, tumbling into the buffeting wind and then, just as abruptly, stopped.

 

“Done!”

 

Will gave himself a moment to sag in relief before he pushed himself back up and started moving back up the vent.

 

“Thanks Benji.”

 

“It’s what I’m here for.”

 

**5.**

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.” Benji’s voice was laboured through his panting.

 

“Don’t waste your breath on swearing.” Will’s voice was just as muffled as he pounded along his own route.

 

“Don’t waste your breath on telling me not to waste mine.”

 

Will used his grip on the corner of a building to lever himself around it. He could hear Benji still muttering under his breath as they both rushed towards the train. Ethan’s luck had struck again and he’d managed to get himself thrown through a carriage window just before the station. They needed someone on the train to follow the mark and as he and Benji were about equal distance away they were both trying for it.

 

“The train’s reached the station.” Ethan was chasing it on foot and even if he couldn’t reach it in time to get back on, at least he was helpful in tracking it’s whereabouts.

 

Benji’s swearing got louder again.

 

Will twisted between two tourists with rolling suitcases and hit the Western entrance to the station.

 

“Platform four.” Benji’s winded voice called through his earbud and Will’s eyes scanned frantically before he took off towards the correct sign.

 

“Doors are about to close guys, you have five seconds.” Ethan’s voice was frustratingly steady.

 

Will’s legs kept pounding but he was still over a hundred metres from the platform.

 

“I can’t get there in time!”

 

“I can.” A blonde head appeared on the platform and then slipped through the doors, tugging his coat in after him as the doors closed on it.

 

**6.**

“Can we get into the server from the outside?”

 

“No way. It’s not linked to any network. It’s completely stand alone. The only access point is _inside_  the server room.”  Will frowned at the blueprint and took a sip of his coffee.

 

“So we have to get inside. What kind of security does it have?” He looked across at Benji who flipped open a notebook and started pointing to things on the blueprint.

 

“You’ve got pressure, motion and heat detectors; plus a total block on wireless signals and that’s just after you get inside. To actually get in you have to pass a four tier, count it four,” He held up four fingers to emphasise his point. “tier biometric security system.” He began counting off on his fingers. “First you’ve got your basic retinal scan, old hat, alone I could fake that with a good digital photo and a contact lens. But then you’ve got layer number two, voice print of an unknown phrase, difficult but doable with as many speeches as this guy’s given. Tier three is DNA which, depending on how paranoid he is, could be a bit difficult. Tier four is our big stickler, it’s a pressure plate which measures his stance, weight and weight distribution. This guy has to be careful about going in after a big lunch, this thing is so sensitive.”

 

Will stared at the blueprint obviously looking for a way in but not finding one.

 

“So you can’t find a way to spoof the pressure plate?”

 

Benji scowled, obviously annoyed at his inability to succeed.

 

“No way, even if I could find a way to get his measurements I have no way to put it through to the plate without showing up on the cameras.”

 

“Cameras?” Will asked with a frown.

 

“Oh yeah, didn’t I mention that everything that happens at the entrance to the server room is monitored 24 hours a day by an offsite, double backed up, security locked, CCTV system. It’s so good I can’t even jack into it.”

 

“So the only way we’re getting in there is if he brings one of us in with him.”

 

“How’s your seduction technique?” Benji asked, innocence oozing out of him.

 

“What?”

 

“The gentleman prefers brunettes.” He handed Will a file, it showed their mark with a series of attractive, dark haired men in their thirties. “I’ve got the wrong hair colour, Ethan’s too old and Jane’s got the wrong parts, so it looks like you get to seduce the rich man after all.”

 

He was right, the men in the photographs did share many traits in common with him.  

 

“So, I’m to seduce him and convince him to let me into the server room with him.”

 

“Where you will plant a wireless booster that will let me get through the security wall.”

 

“What’s our time frame on this?” Will asked, frowning at the photographs.

 

“ASAP, the sooner we get the documents the smaller the chance the buyers will spook.”

 

Seduction was a technique they all covered in training, it was just that Will had never actually had a chance to use his training before. He was staring hesitantly at the folder and his reluctance must have showed on his face.

 

“Come on, you might not be as practiced as Jane is but you’re an attractive bugger, you’ll do fine.”

 

Will wasn’t sure how to respond to that so he looked back down at the plans.

 

Benji watched him, a flush rising beneath his eyes.

 

**7.**

“Benji?” Will called out, looking around the cluttered server room he was sure Benji could be found in.

 

There was a bang and then a sharp cry.

 

“Bollocks!” Benji slid out from beneath a counter, rubbing the top of his head. “You shouldn’t sneak up on people, it’s a terribly bad habit.”

 

“If walking into a room is sneaking, I worry about your field skills.” He lent down, offering him a hand up. Benji took it, brushing off some considerable dust from his trousers. “Ethan wanted to see us. It’s cryptic but I think he has some training for us.”

 

“The man is labyrinthine, I swear he’s just cryptic sometimes for the practice.” Benji finished brushing off the dust and turned to follow Will out of the room.

 

“I tried calling you, are you not answering your phone today?”

 

“The room blocks cell phones, they can mess with the servers.” He grinned over at Will. “So you came looking for me.”

 

“You’re not hard to find, you’ve been in there every day this week.” Will shrugged. “What are you doing?”

 

“The buildings and some of the tech may have been recoverable after the disavowment but they burned the servers good and proper. Set them to overheat, fried them like you would not believe. It’s why we’ve been getting so many glitches lately with coms and requests. So I’m building us our own backup. We’re not going to lose contact again if I can help it.”

 

He didn’t seem boastful about it, just honest and determined. Will watched the side of his face as he walked and then glanced away again, suddenly, inexplicably, nervous.

 

**8.**

“Our team is scary as shit.” Benji waved his beer from where he was sprawled in the uncomfortable guest chair in Will’s sad little hotel room. The mission was done and they were just waiting for a flight out of the bare little town.

 

“I mean, look at Ethan. Half of what he does should be physically impossible and as if that wasn’t enough he’s a bloody trouble magnet, it’s not his fault, plans just don’t work for long around him.”

 

Will took a drink of his own beer and made a noise that Benji must have interpreted as encouraging.

 

“Then there’s Jane who I’m still not sure couldn’t kill me with her eyes. I’m a bloody miracle worker and then there’s you with your plans and your ridiculous memory and your agent skills.”

 

Will held his bottle out and Benji leant over, clinking them together. They both drank.

 

“Yeah, we really are.”

 

**9.**

“I’ve been made.”

 

Will ducked behind a building, barely avoiding a shot that hit the brick beside him, peppering his arm with small bleeding wounds and red dust.

 

“Ethan, Gray went out the back, Benji should be able to pick him up on security. If you and Jane move now you should be able to grab him before he can send the orders.” Will looked out carefully, pulling his head back quickly as a gunshot greeted him. He looked behind him but the empty space and high walls offered no alternative.

 

“We need to get you out first.” Ethan was running, Will could hear it in his voice, he could also hear his confliction. They both knew that if Gray got far enough away he’d be out of the cell blackout and would make the call to kill god knows how many.

 

“No.” Will’s voice was firm. “Gray is the priority. I can get myself out.” He looked out again and counted, fast. Four. He could handle four.

 

“I’ve got Gray, he’s moving fast down the alley behind the hotel.” Benji’s voice broke the tense silence before it could even begin.

 

“Benji, you get him out. Jane and I have Gray.” There was no request in Ethan’s tone. He was stating fact.

 

“Roger boss. Bringing the cameras up now.” Ethan’s panting abruptly cut off, Benji had quarantined his feed. “Now this is a right mess you’ve gotten yourself into. I count four shooters.” He paused, obviously waiting for confirmation. Benji might have been good, but in this case he was only as good as the cameras he was looking through.

 

“Confirmed. Four hostiles.”

 

“I’ve got them. They’re preparing an assault on your position.”

 

Will wasn’t going to risk sticking his head to look if he could help it again.

 

“Lay it out for me.”

 

“They’re bunched together at the end of the lane. Thirty metres from your position, hostile one is a metre from the wall on the left, hostile two is half a metre further out and hostile three is between them and another half metre back. Hostile four is obviously an ambush, he is on the other side of the alley in an alcove at the same distance from you.”

 

Will nodded to himself, fixing the locations into his mind.

 

“Who’s my first target?”

 

“Hostile three, he seems to be the leader.” Benji waited for a moment while Will checked his gun and moved as close to the building as he could. “Your shot is clear. Now.”

 

Will stepped into the open, already sighting down the side of the building. He shot before they could react to his presence and was back behind the building before they could return fire. A few shots hit the brick and Will flinched even further back.

 

“Hit. He’s down.”

 

“Two is now behind one and both are against the wall. Thirty metres, straight shot.”

 

Will looked down at the gun in his hands and marvelled for a moment at what Benji was expecting him to do. Then he shrugged and readied his stance before abruptly reaching only his gun and hands out beyond the building and shooting.

 

“Hit on one, two is running.” There was another gunshot and the running footsteps stopped. “Four has shot two. He’s coming out of his alcove. He’s moving towards your position. He’s got his gun up and is leading with it.” Benji went silent for a moment, obviously thinking. Will could hear the footsteps grow cautiously closer.

 

“Okay. You need to get as close to the edge as you can without showing yourself.” Benji didn’t explain his plan, there wasn’t time, Will just did what he was told. “You want your gun to be at an ninety five degree angle pointing at right angles to the building edge. Fire on my mark.” Will positioned himself as told, pressing himself into the cold, red brick and bracing his arm. The slow footsteps continued and Will was almost shaking with the desire to move or shoot or do something, but he waited, patient.

 

“Almost there. Three. Two. One. Mark!”

 

Will couldn’t see anything but he trusted Benji and he shot when told.

 

His bullet caught the fourth hostile high in the left side of his chest as he swung himself around the corner, his finger already poised to pull the trigger. He dropped his gun at the shock and Will shot him again, watching him fall to the ground.

 

“Thanks Benji.”

 

“You’re all clear. See you at rendezvous Charlie.”  

 

**10.**

Benji was throwing on a coat, sliding his arms into it because the London winter was cold, never mind at night.

 

“I’m going to get a pint. Anyone interested?” He asked the group but Will could feel his eyes on him. Jane and Ethan were playing a particularly cutthroat game of chess in the corner and ignored him.

 

Will met Benji’s eyes.

 

This was not an invitation to go drink beer as a team. This was an inquiry, a beginning, if Will had the guts to take it.

 

He held Benji’s eyes for another moment before standing and reaching for his own jacket.

 

“Sure, why not. I could use a drink.”

  



End file.
